A Schuylkill County man was jailed over the weekend after he allegedly sold an undercover police officer a bag of methamphetamine.
Police in Pottsville say they were working a plainclothes assignment just before 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, on the city’s East Side, the in 300 block of E. Norwegian St., when they encountered 47-year-old Michael Blanco, of Minersville.
An officer says he called out to Blanco and asked him if he had any “uptown” to sell. Uptown is a known slang term for methamphetamine. Blanco allegedly reached into his shorts pocket and pulled out a small Ziploc-style bag. When asked how much the bag cost, Blanco said “40 bucks.”
After handing the bag of uptown to the officer, he was taken into custody. The crystal-like substance in the bag was field tested and came up positive for the presence of methamphetamine.
Blanco was arraigned Saturday night before Magisterial District Judge Edward Tarantelli and charged with possession with intent to deliver, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He’s being held at Schuylkill County Prison on $50,000 bail.
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